Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I was thrilled to hear veteran booking agent and musician Vinny Ribas speak about booking yourself for live performance gigs. It was filled with practical knowledge, applicable in today's music market. Vinny is founder of "Indie Connect" and truly cares about career success of independent artists and musicians. The good news is, success is more possible now than possibly EVER, with the right tools and information.

Here are some highlights from his information-packed talk (all credit for the following goes to Vinny Ribas, ):

Know and understand that don't get booked because you are good. You get booked because of the value you can bring to the owner of the venue. This should guide your "selling points. Know your strengths and weaknesses here.

Like other business people, you should have your 'elevator speech' down... "This is who I am" and "This is what I can do for you".

Determine what price you need to charge to be able to make a profit! Don't lose money unless the exposure at that particular venue is very important.

Always confirm your engagement 2 weeks before the gig.

Vinny explained that different types of venues obviously require different abilities. Bars would need acts who know how to sell food and drinks... how to get people thirsty & hungry, stay a long time, tip the waiters well. Churches need to be able to minister to congregations. Some venues completely depend on the act drawing the crowd (do you have an email list with people from the area of the venue you're wanting to play? Tell the owner you have this list and can expect 10% or more of them to show up... etc). Headliners for whom you wish to open need you to get the crowd excited. Weddings need you to know the routine...play the music they prefer, get people dancing, generally make the day go smoothly with a minimum of confusion.

BE PREPARED... a buyer could ask you for such things as:

Website (Vinny says preferably not just your MySpace site)

EPK (Electronic press kit)

List of past performances

Photos- live performance shots are even better than studio shots

CD- live recordings best

Live video, online or DVD

Bio- several, geared to different kinds of gigs

Serious press reviews (not just press releases you wrote)

References from other venues (A HUGE selling point)

Song list (some venues want to know the cover songs you know, and that you are not going to play something offensive, etc).

Use organizations and events than can refer venues or showcase you to entertainment buyers such as Naca.org, Fairsandexpos.com, FolkAlliance.com, SXSW (the largest indie artist conference/showcase in the world, held annually in Austin, Tx.) Especially check out the "Red Gorilla Showcase", and other genre specific associations (Bluegrass, Blues, Country, etc.)

Trade referrals with like-bands and artists! Offer to introduce them to a venue in exchange for them doing the same. Find out the typical price range they get.

Find out whether or not the venue expects YOU to draw the crowd. Don't disappoint them by building false expectations.

CREATE A BUZZ

Develop a local fan base in no more than 4 or 5 regional locations. Start from the center and gradually expand in concentric circles. Try to come back to play again about once a month.

Vinny had a lot more to say, for instance, contact venues where you are getting radio airplay, offer to do radio and TV interviews to promote shows, do your homework before you make your calls, know what to say when you do make the call. Look for a video on his speech to be uploaded soon at IndieConnect.net site. There are many other videos uploaded there now, my speech on the voice should also make its way there soon.

I think from the info in this post, you can tell what a value these Indie Connect meetings are, for $5.00 (more if you order food, of course). The networking is important, the community is quite wonderful. You might want to consider checking it out if you're in or near Nashville.